Wednesday, February 12, 2014

We Drew Princesses

I'm buying time until Spring.

And that is all I will say about the weather.

Changing the subject totally, here's a freebie today - 10 princesses, as custom-ordered by Kate, plus one knight and one prince, just so it doesn't feel as if I'm marginalizing the boys out there. I'm sure I must have drawn thousands of princesses in my mothering career. I think that, in my meager arsenal of Parenting Skills, drawing is arguably the most useful. It is even more useful than multi-tasking and picking things up with my toes. I've lost count of the number of times I've conveniently fallen back on a drawing surface - paper, backs of receipts, paper napkins and the crinkly paper on the examination table in doctors' offices - and a drawing implement (including non-conventional ones like chalky playground pebbles) to entertain my kids when we've had to wait for something. Better than the iPad, cheerios and origami-using-burpcloths combined.

Some weeks ago, during a lull in our afternoon, Kate asked for princesses to color. Again. So I drew some, and scanned them, just to save the time of drawing them (yet again) at her next request.

Thought I'd share them here, so you can use them to entertain your kids during these long and uninspiring winter days. You can tell which ones I drew first, and which ones brought up the tail end of the sketching session as I got tired. And yes, I know some of you will decry their being heinous stereotypes. Chill, friends. They were, as I said, ordered by Kate. And dictated as to their features, hairstyles and particular gowns so as to be superior for coloring purposes. Here's how I got them to all look uniformly and unrealistically skinny:

I sketched a featureless generic template and then layered plain paper over it to free-hand each different princess without having to first sketch with pencil (wastes time because must then draw twice plus must erase the pencil marks later).

Incidentally, Jenna came by later and said, "You missed out "Fairy Princess". Darn. Nothing escapes Jenna. Might have to draw a sequel set to pacify her. I'd better include Ballerina Princess, too. Also Equestrian Princess, Fashion Runway Princess, Astronaut Princess and Aviator Princess while I'm at it. Just to be comprehensive, you know.

Thank you so much! My baby girl is a couple of years away from princesses (we're still working on teeth), but I have no artistic talent when it comes to drawing. So I will save these for when she is ready.

These are great! I printed them off two to a page, my kids colored them, we put popsicle sticks on the back to turn them into puppets, and now they are making a castle out of blocks and making up stories with them. Fun rainy afternoon thanks to you! (Incidentally I love everything you do and have learned a ton about sewing from your blog.) Thanks for sharing.

Coloring books never seem *quite* as fun as these custom-made goodies.

We were in a waiting room a while back that had a circus-themed painting on the wall. The older girls sat at the table, copying it onto to their drawing pads. Molly asked me to draw it so she could color it. Draw circus scenes while waiting? Um, sure, why not?

Hello and Welcome!

I am a gratefully unemployed mom of three girls, all of whom are growing up much too soon! I like piles of warm, fresh laundry, the smell of salt air near the beach where I used to live, making lists, anything round (like heads) and the quiet evenings sitting with the man of the house after the kids are in bed.

Copyright

You are welcome to link to this blog and to any post on this blog and use ONE or TWO photos for that purpose. Do not use photos of my children. You are welcome to pin images from my blog, if those photos do not have my children's faces in them. Please contact me if you want to use the text on, or more photos from, this blog. Do not post my tutorials on your sites. Do not translate tutorials from this blog into other languages on your site. The ideas and instructions in the tutorials are free - but please use them to only make stuff for yourself or for gifts and not to sell. Ta! For more information, this and this might be helpful.